Equipment and supplies for traveling around killing monsters (inc. ammo questions)

[tamtrible]

Time: nearish future, maybe 15 years from now. Place: continental US, possibly also Canada and/or Mexico. Our Heroine does have a passport, if that's relevant

Comments

[nuranar]

How difficult to kill are these monsters and beasties? I've read another series in which they are very hard to kill indeed, and as a result the protagonists tend to carry a lot of firepower, from multiple handguns to (sometimes) RPGs. She'll certainly want more than one firearm; a handgun at least, and some kind of rifle if a beasties are comparable to bears or lions.

If any evil things are poisonous or there are very bad effects from being touched/scratched/bitten, can she consider body armor? Also, if she's up close and personal enough to use a sword, she'll certainly want extra clothes and soap and detergent - it's a really messy occupation.

[tamtrible]

They vary, though most are harder to kill than, say, a bear. Yeah, I should probably throw at least one rifle in there, too.

And the motorcycle leathers are at least a little bit of protection. After all, they *are* designed to protect you at least a bit in the event of a crash...

[randomstasis]

Possibly a good machete instead of the sword, or as well. Camp Ax, works as a hammer too. yes to the spare shoes- light slipons, boots are no good when you're in a hurry. Things she can layer-A light skirt or nice pants/leggings will help her blend at need (I used to rollpack a complete change of silk clothing to substitute for the padding for my laptop, so I'd always have that

link failure!

[randomstasis]

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/300451505/portable_BBQ_with_cooler_bag.html
oh, and don't forget spikes!

[tamtrible]

I'm concerned about sticking too much into her trailer. But, yeah, she should at least have a pair of vaguely nice pants or a skirt, and maybe something shirt-wise besides the tacky tourist t-shirts.

Machete probably wouldn't be good in place of the sword (though I may consider it as an additional thing), she's a skilled fencer, and the carryover from that will be her best combat skill.

She probably has a couple of bandanas in lieu of a proper washcloth.

The tarp is mostly so that, in an emergency, she has *some* capacity to keep herself dry when sleeping rough. Most of the time, she'll at least have an abandoned building to sleep in. And, though she should have rope on general principles, she'd likely want to keep her bike dry, too, so she'd probably toss the tarp over the bike and sleep on one side, maybe with the edge tucked under her.

Forgot the camping stove and pot. Yeah, she might need to boil things, for food or non-food reasons.

Didn't forget so much as... avoid thinking about, my body's annoying me right now.

[randomstasis]

"maybe something shirt-wise besides the tacky tourist t-shirts

[boltonia]

Despite how glamorous and devastating the movies portray shotguns, they aren't particularly harmful to humans or beasts except at extremely close range. Even then it won't be a very deep or penetrating wound and certainly won't stop an enraged beast.

On the other hand, people tend to think a .22 caliber pistol is wimpy but they actually do a hell of a lot of damage. The bullet is light so tends to ricochet around inside the body, tearing up internal organs in half a dozen different directions before it finally stops.

Another count against shotguns is the size of ammo - you can carry at least 4 times the amount of .38 ammo in the same space as a dozen shotgun shells.

[tamtrible]

Well, part of why I wanted a shotgun is that at least some beasties are sensitive to silver, salt, or other specific elements/substances. So I want her to have weaponry that's fairly easy to load with "exotic" rounds, and I don't know if you can do that with a rifle's bullets.

[kalindashepard]

If you have the equipment to melt silver and cast bullets it's pretty much 6 of one, half a dozen of the other in regard to ease of reloading. You *could* load a shotgun round with random chunks of silver like pennies or some such, but it's accuracy and damage would be entirely up to the GM. Rock salt rounds for shotguns are easy to handload, but you get absolutely no range on the shot due to the light weight of the salt. (you won't even break the skin at anything over 10 feet) Other non-lead substances will have similar issues with range and penetration. Of course the GM has the final say, so if they decide that rock salt has better range and such, then it does. (In game)

[tamtrible]

There are serious real-world problems with silver bullets, so I (being the nitpicker that I am) was trying to figure out the best real-world solution.

[snakewhissperer]

she might want to go wtih a striking steel instead of matches which can get wet, or a lighter that can run out. shampoo can in a pinch double for soap/body wash, but liquids leak. Some soaps can double as shampoo's. (i make them)

[marycatelli]

matches can be waterproofed by dipping them in melted paraffin.

In my experience, trying to strike them only knocks the paraffin about until you get it off, but it's not hard to get off once you need to strike them.

[snakewhissperer]

true but they still run out.

[tamtrible]

Well, technically, a lighter, even if it's out of fuel, has a little flint and steel. And, for the most part, she's not going to be "roughing it" for more than a few days at a stretch, and will almost never be far enough from civilization to be unable to get supplies for more than a week.

She likely nabs the shampoo from hotels, and the soap. It's not like she's the type who's terribly concerned about being model-perfect. And she'll use bog-standard soap on her hair if there's no shampoo handy.

[corvideye]

Small trowel/ spade/ shovel (there are foldable ones found at army surplus and such) is useful for digging a quick latrine hole (not just for hygiene - burying it is important if you're in areas with bears/ other scent-tracking predators)... and maybe for burying bodies? Also for digging a rain drainage trench around your tent in heavy rainfall.

sunscreen
bug repellant
completely waterproof container with tinder as well as matches
flashlight - non-battery type that works by cranking/solar/etc.
road flares
practical pocket knife for whittling stakes and such

...In general, searching backpacking/ wilderness survival should get you good lists of compact gear for that part of the question. Backpacking suppliers sell light aluminum cook-pots where the lid doubles as a dish/ cup; also many varieties of instant /freeze-dried food - just add hot water to the pouch. Sources of protein, fat, and salt will be important.

[parmalokwen]

SHOVEL. OMG YES. Large-ish collapsible one is best for burying bodies. Or exhuming them, which happens about every fourth SPN episode.

Pocket knife is good, but not for whittling stakes and such. That's done much faster with a heavy chopping blade, like an axe or machete.

[marycatelli]

Note that she will want to keep the knife sharp. Dull knives are much more dangerous.

[tamtrible]

Whetstone, check.